The Way Things Turn Out
by StormHeart
Summary: My first story, everyone. It takes place about ten years after the last episode. KurtKittyPiotr.
1. Default Chapter

The Way Things Turn Out  
  
A.N. My first story, everyone. Please be tolerant of the fact. This takes place ten years after the last episode, I think. Take note, Piotr is also Peter, as he was referred to by both names in the comics. Reviews would be very much appreciated.   
  
Kurt sat at the top of the mansions main stairway, where he could see clearly the events passing in the hall below. It was a favorite position of his.  
  
He had been at the mansion for ten years now, and had seen a great deal pass through that hall. Refugees seeking assistance, new students seeking guidance, dastardly villains seeking the destruction of a race. The X-Men had aided, or thwarted each accordingly, and the Xavier Institute was, after all this time, stronger then ever.  
  
But he had never expected to see Kitty Pryde greeting one of Magneto's damn acolytes with a kiss.  
  
Piotr Rasputin had just entered the mansion, and had been mat by an energetic brunette who threw herself into his arms. He had laughed, something that had once been rare with him, and caught up his beloved girlfriend with one arm. He held her for a moment before catching sight of Kurt, who was looking very pensive .The Russian smiled at the young German man with perfect goodwill, and spoke a few friendly words. Kurt didn't seem inclined to answer Piotr, but when Kitty turned her expectant, slightly anxious eyes towards him, he relented slightly and said hello.   
  
Unaware of the tension in the room, Peter took Kitty by the hand and opened the door. Kitty went, but not before giving Kurt a small wave and a puzzled glance. She didn't understand his new attitude- never had she known the blue man to be serious for so long a period of time.   
  
Kurt sat on the steps for awhile after the couple had left, and thought.  
  
  
  
He was twenty-six now, a teacher at the institute. He loved being there- helping a new generation fo misunderstood kids with powers.   
  
Jean and Scott had gotten married, moved downstate, but they always returned to visit, or to help when they were needed. Rogue returned less often- she was in London, and loved it there. Logan and Ororo remained at the mansion.  
  
And Kitty. Kitty remained.   
  
She was a child still- much more so then Kurt, for all his jests and playful attitudes. At work for the biggest Tech company in the nation, she was highly respected and gaining an international reputation. But she hadn't decided to assume adulthood yet.  
  
Her and Kurt were the best of friends- closer then most people could realize. Their names were associated in the mansion, and they took that for granted. Whenever one of them had a problem, the other was there- immediately. When Kurt and Amanda had ended their relationship after high-school, Kitty had half dragged her best friend around so he didn't sit in his room all day. And when Kitty had finally broken up with Lance for good, Kurt had held Kitty for hours on end while she cried in doubt of her decision.   
  
But Piotr had never made Kitty cry. He adored her, treasured her. And she was happy.  
  
But she didn't understand her situation the way Kurt did.  
  
Peter had every intention of marrying Katya- and before much longer, either. Had he remained in Russia, he would have been married and perhaps three or four times a father by now. He had courted the women he loved for almost a year. Matrimony was the next step.  
  
Kitty...it was different with Kitty. The simplicity of Peter's love confused her. The sort of love she bore the tall Russian was complicated- and, she knew, less pure then his for her. She had told this to Kurt, sitting in the passenger seat when he would drive her places (Kitty didn't drive much. She'd never had an accident, thanks to her abilities, but without her powers she would have totaled dozens of cars by now. And she realized how much it unnerved people to watch a little pink convertible driving through brick walls and telephone poles, she had consented to Kurt's offer of chauffeuring her about. Most of the time.)  
  
Kurt shook his head as though it would clear his thoughts. The situation was beginning to blur- he couldn't see clearly what he felt or thought. He needed a break. But he remained on the stairs.  
  
Kitty arrived home several hours later. Piotr walked her to the door, kissed her goodnight, and left. Kitty watched him go with a small, odd smile, then closed the door. Turning, she saw Kurt sitting where she had left him, and her smile widened.  
  
  
  
"Waiting up for me, Kurt? Have I broken curfew?" She beamed at her best friend, sat down two steps below him, and looked up at him with laughing eyes.  
  
Kurt laughed back, his innate sense of fun surfacing. "Nay, K tzchen. Merely enjoying the view. His glance skimmed her face, but Kitty merely glanced behind her, and agreed that the front hall was rather scenic, to a discriminating eye.   
  
She turned back. "You know Kurt, you don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself."  
  
Kurt merely smiled. Kitty didn't mean that, and they both knew it. 


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. Hey everyone. Thanks for the reviews- I really appreciate them. I wasn't sure if I was going to continue this story, but you've all convinced me to try at least another chapter.   
  
Kitty was jumping up and down on the foot of a bed. Kurt's bed. The bed that Kurt was attempting to sleep in.  
  
It was 6:30 on a Saturday morning.   
  
"Please, Kurt? Pleassssssse?" She landed in a sitting position, right on his feet. Kurt continued to mutter half formed threats of revenge, but he was more then half awake, and his mood was lifting.   
  
Kitty stuck out her tongue at him, a gesture that only earned her a half grin and a yawn. "Fine, be lazy. I'll find someone else to entertain me!" She smiled at him, and began to go, but Kurt's voice came from under the covers, resigned. "Give me twenty minutes."  
  
Kitty laughed, immediately abandoning her plans to convince Mr. Logan to take her for a ride on his motorcycle.  
  
"Done." She kissed his head through the blankets, and phased through the floor.  
  
Kurt, sat up, and shook his head, but with a smile. It was, after all, Kitty's day off, and he hardly wanted her leaving without him.  
  
***  
  
An hour later Kurt and Kitty were wondering through the square of public buildings that passed for downtown Bayville. Kurt was carrying Kitty piggy-back fashion, and she was chatting happily about the movie they had just seen. They looked to all the world like teenagers.  
  
Kitty had left a message at Peter's apartment, telling him where she would be, and he had come. He saw her before she saw him, and he took the moment to observe.   
  
Peter was perhaps one of the gentlest men alive. He had something in the way of genius- not a great quickness of intellect, but a steady, deep way of thought that led him to say brilliant things in a very mild way. He loved peace, and had perhaps an undeservedly good opinion of the nature of man.  
  
Despite all this, Kitty's friendship with Kurt sometimes irritated him.  
  
He never said so, of course. All Bayville knew what had happened the last time one of Kitty's boyfriends had tried to force her to make a choice between him and Kurt. The boy, Alex, had had a bit too much confidence, and had delivered the ultimatum in public.   
  
Alex had yet to live that day down.  
  
Piotr stepped in front of the two friends. Kitty broke off her sentence, and smiled engagingly at her tall, Russian boyfriend over Kurt's shoulder. Piotr smiled too, but he disengaged Kitty from Kurt, placing her on her feet. He said pleasantly to Kurt "You won't mind if I borrow my girlfriend?"  
  
A lesser man, or one with less good sense, might have emphasized my girlfriend. As it was, there was something tense about Peter's posture, some odd, unfamiliar glint to his eye. Peter was never possessive, never jealous. But to someone who didn't know his nature as well as Kitty, he might have appeared both.  
  
Kitty felt a sudden, inexplicable panic. She stepped back a few feet, and looked at the two men with a sort of odd unfamiliarity that made both nervous. She was suddenly very confused and unsettled, and her words were rushed and slightly incoherant.  
  
"I forgot- I have to go into the office for a bit- there's an important client, it's a big deal. I shouldn't be very long." And with no other goodbye, she half sprinted in the direction of her company.  
  
***  
  
Kitty sat on her office floor. Now that she had some space, her flight seemed ridiculous. But remembering the strange, unpleasant strain she had suddenly felt, she couldn't be sorry for it. For a moment, the lines that defined the places the three held in each others lives had seemed unclear- and it had suddenly appeared to Kitty that there was a taint of something almost unnatural in her relationships with two of the most important people in her life. She had never felt like that before. She hoped she never would again.   
  
Kitty reached up to her desk, pulled down her telephone, and dialed. Eight rings later someone picked up.  
  
Kitty's expression cleared at the familiar, disgruntled voice. "Hey Rogue..."  
  
***  
  
Ten minutes later and a a few thousand miles away, Marie clicked off her cordless, with a troubled look. The situation at home had been growing worse, she had known. But obviously the necessary resolution period was closer at hand then she had realized.  
  
She clicked her phone back on again, and dialed a number. A female with a slightly mechanical voice answered immediately.  
  
"Hello. London airlines, Amy speaking. May I assist you?"  
  
"Yes, please. I would like a ticket for the soonest available flight to Bayville, New York."  
  
Another Authors note: I'm not 100% percent sure where this story is headed yet. This is really my first try at fiction, I'm much better at essays and papers. But if you've read to this point, please review and let me know what you think!! Once again, thanks to everyone who reviewed my last chapter. 


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. Hey everyone. Sorry this chapter took so long- and also for how short all these chapters are turning out to be. Thanks a thousand times to everyone who has reviewed my past two chapters, you guys are great. I'm writing this story without a clear sense of its direction, but I'm really trying to get a better grasp on it. Please review and let me know what you think!!!  
  
Rogue arrived at 8 o'clock the next morning. She hadn't told anyone she was coming, so she took a cab to the mansions. Kurt answered the door, and when he saw who it was he simply drew her inside and gave his sister a hug.   
  
He let her go shortly, and sighed. "I suppose I should say that I'm surprised, but I guess I was half expecting you. He gave her a laughingly ironic half-smile. "I'm glad you came, though. She's not talking to anyone about it, but she's upset over something.   
  
  
  
"Something? Sure, and I'm certain you have no idea what it is. It's not like there's any conflict in her relationships or anything." At Kurt's slightly haggard look, however, Rogue relented. "Oh. It's not your fault, Kurt. I'm sure you've been careful. But however artless that girl is, she doesn't lack for intuition. She was bound to pick up something- I'm surprised it's taken her this long." Rogue had always known how Kurt felt about Kitty, although Kurt couldn't for the life of him ever remember telling her.  
  
  
  
Kurt ran a three- fingered hand through his collar-length hair, and Rogue shook her head sympathetically.   
  
"Where is she?"  
  
Kurt nodded his head in the direction of the south lawn, where the poll was, and Rogue headed out the French double doors.   
  
Kitty was sitting by the edge of the water in a bright summer dress, her bare feet dangling into the water. Rogue stopped to gain an impression before she spoke. Kitty looked- well, not quite sad, exactly, but as though she had recently been very sad, and now didn't know quite what to do about it.  
  
Rogue stepped quietly up to the edge of the pool and sat down next to her friend. Kitty glanced at the edgily dressed girl with a rueful but appreciative smile. Of course Rogue had come.   
  
"I told you that I was okay."  
  
"You did, at that." Rogue tugged Kitty's ponytail, a decade old affectionate taunt. "But I didn't believe you."  
  
Kitty suddenly laughed a little, and herself off the edge into the water fully clothed. When she surfaced a few seconds later, her expression had transformed into one of mischievous glee.  
  
"Does Remy know that you're here?"   
  
Rogue's eyes sharpened quickly, and her reply was definitely a warning. "No, he does not. And Kitty, you are under no circumstances to inform him."  
  
But Kitty had ducked back under the water.  
  
***  
  
Kitty's mood lightened easily after her brief swim. She had almost come to the conclusion that her imagination had run away the afternoon before, causing her to perceive a tension that didn't exist. Comfortable with this decision, she changed and went off to join everyone else.  
  
Rogue was in the middle of a large, chattering group of teachers and students, all of whom were trying to welcome her at once. Kitty joined Kurt, who was sitting against the wall with an amused look. He shot her a sideways glance as she sat down, but perceiving her easy grin, he immediately relaxed.  
  
Kitty, without taking her eyes off the loud group, said laughingly, "How long do you think until Gambit arrives?"  
  
"Oh, perhaps two hours. I don't see how he could have gotten the news already." As Kurt spoke the doorbell rang, and a younger student opened the door to reveal a tall, well-built man with red eyes leaning casually against the frame.   
  
Kitty raised her eyebrows at the ensuing scene, as Rogue noticed Remy's arrival. "Once again, Kurt. Never underestimate that guy. And despite whatever Rogue might tell you, I did not tell Gambit that she was here. The guy has some weird ability to almost sense her presence. I don't understand it at all."  
  
Kurt's expression sharpened with interest, but all he did was drape a friendly arm around Kitty's shoulders and say carelessly "Don't you, Katzchen? I think I do, a little." 


End file.
